NIGHTRAGE: ‘Insidious’ Track-By-Track Description – Part 1

Multi-national thrashers NIGHTRAGE will release their fifth album, “Insidious”, on September 27 (one day earlier internationally) via Lifeforce Records. The CD features guest appearances by Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), Tomas S. Englund (EVERGREY), Apollo Papathanasio (FIREWIND, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS), John K (BIOMECHANICAL) and the band’s former frontman Tomas Lindberg (also known for his work with AT THE GATES, THE CROWN and LOCK UP). Lindberg appeared on the band’s first two albums — 2003’s “Sweet Vengeance” and 2005’s “Descent Into Chaos” — before being replaced by Jimmie Strimell, who sang on 2007’s “A New Disease Is Born”.

The first part of a “Insidious” track-by-track description by singer Antony Hämäläinen can be found below.

“So Far Away”:

Antony Hämäläinen: “This would be part one of three instrumental tracks for the album. Short and to the point. Reminds me of a triumphant funeral dirge. Marios‘ trademark guitar melodies are all over the place on this one.”

“Delirium Of The Fallen”:

Antony Hämäläinen: “This is a bit different for the band as an opening song. We have always in the past had the typical ‘blast-beat’-type song open the album. We tried to go in a different direction here. This song kind of has it all. Crazy solos from Marios and Olof, an emotional vocal section by Apollo from FIREWIND, and a very catchy chorus.”

“Insidious”:

Antony Hämäläinen: “This is for me the best song I’ve ever done. Not only is it heavy as hell, but Tomas Lindberg recorded and sang vocal melodies and lyrics I wrote. A true honor and a great friend to the band. The song as a whole never stops destroying everything in its path.”

“Wrapped In Deceiftful Dreams”:

Antony Hämäläinen: “Another catchy chorus type song. Gus G. shreds along with Marios on this one. Tom from EVERYGREY laid down a clean section for this one. The original way was just a spoken word from me. Marios then had an amazing idea in the studio for Tom to take the lyrics and basically freestyle. It took the man five minutes to lay down these amazing vocals! The one thing I wanted as a singer to change on this record were the clean vocals. I had done my thing on ‘Wearing A Martyr’s Crown’, and this time I felt the need of a new flavor.”

“Hate Turns Black”:

Antony Hämäläinen: “This is one of the first songs we wrote for this record. To me this song takes you on a great ride. Very old-school Gothenburg feel in the pre-chorus and a traditional metal feel on the rest. This is NIGHTRAGE to the bone.”

The “Insidious” cover art was created by Gustavo Sazes (MORBID ANGEL, ARCH ENEMY, FIREWIND, SONIC SYNDICATE, GOD FORBID) of Abstrata Art and cane be seen below.

Commented the band: “We recorded the music at Zero Gravity studios on Athens, Greece with our great friend Terry Nikas at the helm. He did a fantastic job and provided us with an amazing environment and atmosphere to make the best record possible.

“Antony [Hämäläinen] had the pleasure as well to work on the vocals in a very different setting with Ryan Butler at his Arcane Digital Recording studio in Arizona. Ryan has been assisting us with demo sessions since the last album and it felt very natural for us to try the final product with him. We then went to Studio Fredman located in Gothenburg, Sweden for the mix and master. Our longtime producer Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd worked long and hard to make the best out of what we gave them.